Greed and Corruption Fly High

Rick Harris has just signed on as an aircraft sales executive with the upstart Brazilian aircraft manufacturer, RioAero. The year is 1981. Three years have elapsed since the U.S. Congress essentially reinvented an industry by passing the Airline Deregulation Act. The swipe of a pen removed both heavy government restrictions and generous subsidies.

Established airlines are jockeying to maximize growth and profitability in a market that is wide open to competition. Point-to-point travel is phasing out as legacy airlines muscle to build hub-and-spoke fortresses. Start-up regional airlines are being created at a dizzying pace to partner with the legacies and capitalize on new free-market opportunities.

The frantic race has generated a fierce battle among airframe manufacturers as each positions to capture increased market share at whatever the cost. New aircraft are in very high demand and sales potentials are staggering. Now, the gloves are off and any tactic seems acceptable however questionable it might be.

Thrilling to the competition of this sizzling marketplace, Rick Harris slams into the reality that intrigue and sabotage threaten his efforts. In this fast-paced arena, Harris jarringly realizes there are only hours, not days or weeks to complete his mission. He must turn amateur sleuth and face dangers that risk all he holds precious. Unless Rick Harris succeeds, his aircraft, his company, and maybe he himself will perish.

MACK ADAMS is well acquainted with his subject matter. He has over two decades of experience in aviation as a pilot, flight instructor, FBO operator, FAA designated pilot examiner, and aircraft sales executive. Among other airframe manufacturers, the author enjoyed being a part of Embraer, the now renowned Brazilian aircraft manufacturer. The author draws broadly from the challenges and heady excitement of the early days of Embraer in creating the fictitious RioAero.

Now retired from the industry that took him to dizzying heights, Mack Adams enjoys spending time with his wife and a couple of horses as he spins tales as writer. He combines a degree in speech, theater and English writing from the University of Pittsburgh along with experience as an associate editor (trade books) and advertising copywriter to serve as the launch point for his fiction. He has been a freelance contributor to the Washington Post, where he has published both feature and non-feature material.

The author's depth is enhanced by his further studies resulting in an MBA in microeconomics (Temple University), as well as his work-world experience as a CFO and as an undergraduate and graduate-level adjunct faculty member. Mack Adams' broad range of interests outside of aviation allow for diverse subject matter to be interspersed throughout his stories.

Mack Adams' expansive, firsthand knowledge of aviation, airframe manufacturers, and airlines make MISSED APPROACH as accurate as it is compelling. No detail was left to chance. The author has personal experience with most of the elements contained in the story. But, of course, the author's work is fiction.